Luna and Kunox's Tracking Journal 2018

[dbHunterNY]

great work luna, kunox, and tom!

[Buckmaster7600]

You always mention the cartridge used but do you ever ask about bullets? I would be very interested if some bullets would stand out, good or bad.


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[TreeGuy]

Dream team. Keeping it going! Nice work

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[TreeGuy]

You always mention the cartridge used but do you ever ask about bullets? I would be very interested if some bullets would stand out, good or bad.


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I'll let Tom answer but a tracker I know always asks. ML seems to make the biggest difference on what sabot Vs rifles and shotguns.

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[outdoorstom]

On 11/30/2018 at 9:35 AM, Buckmaster7600 said:

You always mention the cartridge used but do you ever ask about bullets? I would be very interested if some bullets would stand out, good or bad.


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I don’t ask, but that’s a good idea.

 

[nyslowhand]

Aren't a majority of your calls really due to poor shot placement, rather than any specific broadhead or bullet wgt/style?

Assuming you walk a grey line being called solely to retrieve a deer and trying not to give lectures about how or what to shoot them with!?! Be hard for me to bite my tongue!

[outdoorstom]

7 hours ago, nyslowhand said:

Aren't a majority of your calls really due to poor shot placement, rather than any specific broadhead or bullet wgt/style?

Assuming you walk a grey line being called solely to retrieve a deer and trying not to give lectures about how or what to shoot them with!?! Be hard for me to bite my tongue!

The majority are due to poor shots!  I give a few lectures along the way.....in a nice way.

[outdoorstom]

This one was shot yesterday. We tracked it a week ago.  You’re looking at the injury it had when we tracked it.

[Moho81]

The majority are due to poor shots!  I give a few lectures along the way.....in a nice way.

Good for you am giving them a nice lecture. Sometimes we don’t learn from our mistakes and it’s takes the knowledge of others to help us along the way. I hope most of these hunters you help won’t take the same poor shot next year.


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[outdoorstom]

12/3/18

#1

I was called last night by a hunter that had shot a buck and tracked it 75 yards before losing blood. Luna and I arrived at first light this morning and she showed us blood in a couple spots beyond the hunters point of loss, then nothing for 800 yards. I decided to do a restart, and she didn’t hesitate and took us the same route again. We went further this time, but never saw any more blood and never found the deer.

 

#2

The second track today was a continuation of a track from yesterday where we saw evidence we were pushing the buck and backed out. When we got there I started Luna about a hundred yards before the place we had stopped. She locked back onto the buck and showed us a small amount of blood beyond where we had stopped, then took us another 3/4 of a mile with no beds and no buck. 

 

#3

This was a track on a buck that was shot 2 days ago, pushed that night, then grid searched the next day. As Kunox and I rode into the property on a 4 wheeler, he opened up multiple times as he winded deer. We saw a couple of them as they crossed the trail in front of us. This property is HEAVILY populated and has standing corn on it. It took Kunox a little while to realize he was supposed to be tracking a wounded or dead deer, and 2 or 3 times he opened up on live deer while on the actual track, but I never saw any indication that it was the deer we were after. He finally settled down, taking us past the hunters flags indicating where blood had been. We’ve had heavy rain and most of the snow has melted since the shot, but we were able to see some blood in a couple spots. Kunox took us past last blood and through thick nasty stuff leading to a creek. He wanted to cross, so we found a narrow spot and then went back to where he had indicated he wanted to cross. He took us through a swampy area, then into a field which led to the corn field. Not seeing any sign, I decided to restart him at last blood and he took us exactly the same way back to the creek. Again we went toward the corn. After an hour and a half of searching I called the track.

 

#4

As I was leaving track #3 I listened to a voicemail I had received a few minutes earlier. I called the hunter back to tell him I was tired and finished for the day when I learned he was only 5 minutes away, so I agreed to go over. The caller and his son had both shot does with their muzzleloaders as they were part of an organized drive. The problem with driving is it usually leads to running shots, which these were. I tracked the sons deer first as it appeared a front leg had been hit. The hunter and pushers had tracked the doe a few hundred yards, then jumped it in very heavy brush. Kunox got on the track and showed us blood along way as the deer had circled around in the brush before bee lining it out of there. We followed it 9/10 of a mile before calling the track. Leg hit deer should be pushed to hopefully weaken them through blood loss through the bone marrow, hopefully enough to get another shot at them.

 

#5

The father thought he had shot his doe too far back. Normally we’ll back out and give these plenty of time, but he wasn’t available to track it tomorrow. I agreed to see what we could do. Kunox quickly got on the track and showed us a little blood along the way. The hunter said the deer turned to the left up here and cut through the field to the woods over there. Kunox on cue turned left and through the field and into the woods we went. He was locked on took us 3/4 of a mile, never finding a bed or the deer. It’s very possible this deer will go to waste.

 

Not a good recovery day, but the dogs did their part.

[The_Real_TCIII]

You and your dogs are amazing. It seems to me the only deer you don’t recover are alive


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[outdoorstom]

27 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

You and your dogs are amazing. It seems to me the only deer you don’t recover are alive

We’ve certainly had our share of those this season!

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[outdoorstom]

12/5/18

 

This morning Luna and I tracked a buck that was bowshot in the haunch yesterday morning. Luna took us past blood the hunter had marked, then showed me 6” of the fletching end of the arrow, a bloody bed, and a few more blood spots. This was all within a half mile. Luna continued on, taking us another half mile without seeing any more sign. At this point, she started her high pitched bark indicating a live deer. We were on running tracks that were the same size we had been tracking, but didn’t find a bed or any blood. We pursued for a couple hundred yards without seeing the deer, and I decided to restart at last blood. At the restart, Luna took exactly the same route back to where we had been and we continued further this time and called it at 1.12 miles.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

On 12/2/2018 at 9:14 AM, nyslowhand said:

Aren't a majority of your calls really due to poor shot placement, rather than any specific broadhead or bullet wgt/style?

Not gonna hijack such a great thread but I about faint at the number of folks I see do stuff like carrying FMJ rounds becasue of the good deal they got on them. 

This is by far my favorite thread on the site. Thanks for what you do. 

[outdoorstom]

1 hour ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

Not gonna hijack such a great thread but I about faint at the number of folks I see do stuff like carrying FMJ rounds becasue of the good deal they got on them. 

This is by far my favorite thread on the site. Thanks for what you do. 

Thanks CC!  Some of the stuff I see and hear is appalling.

[outdoorstom]

12/6/18

 

I was called by a friend and ex co-worker this morning asking me to track a deer he shot yesterday afternoon, and I agreed to re-open my season :-)

He and his Dad had tracked a few hundred yards, bumping it out of a bed twice. Luna locked on and quickly found this buck after a 700 yard track. Happy to close out the season on a high note.

[Robhuntandfish]

Great note to end the season on.  A successful track for a friend ! Congrats and thanks for alll the great stories. 

[dan46n2]

This is such an interesting (and in some ways sad/frustrating due to the seemingly high occurrence of poor shot placement) thread to read. Thank you so much for posting this. It's incredibly informative and insightful regarding the lengths some people go to to get and track deer. Thankfully, I've never had to track a deer a fraction of some of the distances you've gone.

 

Just out of curiosity, what's a rough estimate as to what you charge for this service? Or is this just you being incredibly helpful and extremely generous with your time and energy? It's ok if you don't want to say, I can understand that. At the very least, some of these guys should be tipping you regardless of the outcome just based on high-value service that you're providing.

Again, thanks for posting your encounters in this thread!

[ApexerER]

Thanks for all the posts. Love reading all the stories!

[outdoorstom]

5 hours ago, dan46n2 said:

This is such an interesting (and in some ways sad/frustrating due to the seemingly high occurrence of poor shot placement) thread to read. Thank you so much for posting this. It's incredibly informative and insightful regarding the lengths some people go to to get and track deer. Thankfully, I've never had to track a deer a fraction of some of the distances you've gone.

 

Just out of curiosity, what's a rough estimate as to what you charge for this service? Or is this just you being incredibly helpful and extremely generous with your time and energy? It's ok if you don't want to say, I can understand that. At the very least, some of these guys should be tipping you regardless of the outcome just based on high-value service that you're providing.

Again, thanks for posting your encounters in this thread!

No charge, but a donation for gas is nice. 

 

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Have you ever did the math on a season?  Like how many lost compared to found?  Seems like a whole lot of wounded animals.

Glad you guys retrieve a fair number of them.

[Poppy]

Tom,

Again this year your fantastic posts were the first thing I looked at when I got home.  Without a doubt the most informative, entertaining and just plain wonderful stories, some sad, some happy but all a pleasure to read.  For me this year, I had limited hunting time due to my wife's health issues, but each search I read put me in the woods enjoying them whether I got out or not.  As always many thanks to you, Luna & Kunox for your generous assistance to many hunters and posting your adventures.

 

Happy Holidays to all and I can't wait to 2019 edition.

 

Poppy

[outdoorstom]

3 hours ago, Four Season Whitetail's said:

Have you ever did the math on a season?  Like how many lost compared to found?  Seems like a whole lot of wounded animals.

Glad you guys retrieve a fair number of them.

This was a rough year, we chased a lot of live deer. Out of 67 tracks, we only recovered 16 deer and 1 bear. Like Bob Yax is fond of saying “free exercise!”

[Four Season Whitetail's]

This was a rough year, we chased a lot of live deer. Out of 67 tracks, we only recovered 16 deer and 1 bear. Like Bob Yax is fond of saying “free exercise!”

Well no fault of you and your pups but it sure does say a mouthful about some ny hunters. Just think of 1000's that don't call for your help? Another reason DEC really has no clue how many deer are really out there. Great Job. Thanks for the reply.


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[outdoorstom]

3 hours ago, Poppy said:

Tom,

Again this year your fantastic posts were the first thing I looked at when I got home.  Without a doubt the most informative, entertaining and just plain wonderful stories, some sad, some happy but all a pleasure to read.  For me this year, I had limited hunting time due to my wife's health issues, but each search I read put me in the woods enjoying them whether I got out or not.  As always many thanks to you, Luna & Kunox for your generous assistance to many hunters and posting your adventures.

 

Happy Holidays to all and I can't wait to 2019 edition.

 

Poppy

Thanks for your kind words, Poppy. I enjoy sharing them and trying to educate hunters on what to do to increase their odds if they lose the track.  Funny story - a few days ago I made arrangements to meet a hunter at a store close to his property and follow him in. I was making my call to the DEC while in the store parking lot when some guy getting into his truck must have seen my truck signs and hollered over “I’ll read about it tonight”.  :-)